It's a great thing to have undivided focus on the task at hand. Most managers would give their employees a positive write-up at evaluation time. I can see it now: "__________ (insert your name here) stays on task at all times and focuses on the job until it's done. S/he's an asset to the company."

With that kind of evaluation, you'd be sure of a promotion. You're going places.

But not like these two folks. They decided to rob a bar in Sydney, Australia. Here's what the Associated Press had to say: "The man and an accomplice, wearing ski masks and waving machetes, stormed into a club in a western Sydney suburb shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday and yelled at patrons to lie down as they tried to rob the cash register, police said Thursday."

Remember that part about focus?

On the way into the club, the two, would-be robbers missed the 50 or so motorcycles parked in a line outside. The Southern Cross Cruiser Club was having a meeting right when the two stepped into the bar. Instead of laying down on the floor, the biker gang "crash tackled" the man, but the woman escaped out a service entrance.

Club members hog-tied the man and waited for police, who escorted the alleged robber to the hospital for minor cuts and bruises. The biker gang's leader, Jester, said the two probably didn't see the bikes because of their ski masks.

Single-mindedness is not always a virtue.

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You can read more stories like this one in my How to Get Sued book from Kaplan Publishing to be released June 3rd.